Co-Op Mode
by NeutralGuise
Summary: AU of Ready Player One. Jack's life is pretty strange, but that's okay. He's in good company.


**Notes** : AU of Ready Player One where all three kids have powers instead of just Jack. No knowledge of RPO or The Gamer is required.

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

Ever since Jack got his powers, he'd lost practically all interest in school. Finals were coming up, but his heightened intelligence meant that all he had to do was page through the relevant chapters the night before any tests and he got good grades. His classmates were even less interesting than the lessons. It felt like they were all from a completely different world than him (maybe they were). That didn't mean that he was oblivious to them, though.

So when Rafael Esquivel came in looking confused and stressed out, with a new title written above his head, Jack took notice.

 **[Technopath] LV: 2 Rafael E.**

Huh, that was definitely not there last week. What happened? Could Raf be a Natural Ability User, like he was? Only one way to find out.

Once the final bell rang, he slipped through the crowd and found his way to the younger boy's side.

"Hey, Raf, finals are coming up. Want to study together?"

Raf eyed him, understandably suspicious. This was the first time Jack had spoken to him outside of class, after all. "Why? Your grades are fine."

"Yes, but…" He took in the eleven-year-old's rapidly closing off body language and sighed internally. Being subtle was _hard_. He leaned in, time to change tactics, "Alright, look. I can tell that at some point between Friday afternoon and this morning something changed with you, something big. If you have questions, I can try to answer them."

"What? How do you? I didn't even?"

Jack double checked that no one was paying attention to them before confessing, "I can do weird stuff too. We can talk wherever you want, at the library or a restaurant or even your house if that's where you're most comfortable."

Raf considered him, "There's a park nearby."

"Alright, let's walk there."

Ten minutes and a stop at a nearby restaurant later, Jack and Raf were sitting across from each other at a park bench, a half-eaten pizza between them.

"So, how _did_ you know about me?"

"One of the things I can do is look at people and get information about them. You came in this morning with the word 'technopath' literally floating above your head. It caught my attention."

"And you know what that is?"

"Only what the superpower wiki tells me."

"Oh. So, there are other people like us out there?"

"Yes, but that's not necessarily a good thing. It's sort of like _Harry Potter,_ in that there's a whole other society of people with supernatural abilities that stay separate from the mundane world. Unlike _Harry Potter_ though, there's no Ministry of Magic, no Aurors, no law. People can and do get away with murder."

"Why stay separate if there's no Statute of Secrecy?"

"Because they'll die if they don't. There's some sort of force that kills people who use their powers too blatantly. Like, if someone uses their powers to win the lottery, they might get struck by lightning or come down with a deadly disease or choke on breakfast, or something."

"Why do I even have powers if I can't use them?"

"You can, you probably already have, you just need to be subtle about it, or use them in an Illusion Barrier. It's a protected space that all Ability Users are able to create. Here, I'll show you." Jack raised his hand and murmured, " **ID Create**."

Raf startled when the sounds of traffic and wildlife abruptly disappeared, "What?"

Jack turned to the nearby jungle gym and fired an **Energy Bolt** at it, "We can do anything here, and when we get back to the real world, it'll be like nothing ever happened."

Raf gaped at him, "And how do we get out?"

"Just lift your hand like I did, call energy to your hand, and concentrate on leaving the Barrier."

It took Raf a few seconds, but soon the ambient noise returned.

"If you want to create a Barrier, you basically do the same thing, just think about making a protected space instead of leaving it." Jack checked his phone, "I've got to be at work soon, but let me give you my number. Call me if you have any more questions."

* * *

Rafael did call him a few times. Jack answered what he could and went to his mother for the rest. At Raf's request, Jack didn't let his mom know who he was asking for. They hung around each other at school, but once summer break began, they barely saw each other. That state of affairs ended when school resumed and Miko Nakadai moved to town.

The moment Jack walked into homeroom and saw that one of the new students was level twenty-five, he was sorely tempted to walk right back out. She didn't seem to notice him. Was she here for Raf? Or could this be a coincidence?

Jack warned Raf via text and spent the rest of the day hovering around the technopath and watching the new student for signs of aggression.

In retrospect, he thought as Miko cornered him and Raf after school, he probably should have at least tried for subtlety.

"You two have been looking at me weird all day. What is your problem?"

"Nothing, it's just—uh, I like your jewelry." He pulled his own Hermit's Necklace out from under his shirt. He saw Raf doing the same out of the corner of his eye.

Miko paled and stepped back. She took a moment to reassess them before speaking again, "Are we going to have a problem?"

"Not unless you go after us first."

"My parents would be so upset. They sent me here to avoid this sort of thing."

* * *

Somehow, they all ended up at Jack's house. He, Miko, and Raf were talking at the kitchen table when Jack's mom came home. She stopped in the doorway, her eyes catching on the three identical necklaces they were wearing. She slowly set down her purse to free up her hands.

"Jack, who are your friends?"

"This is Raf—er, Rafael—Esquivel and Miko Nakadai. She just transferred in this year."

Miko, who had been glancing between them during their exchange, leaned over and hissed, "Your mom knows about—?"

At Jack's nod, Miko turned to face June, "Hi, some new group was causing trouble for my clan, so my parents sent me away until things die down."

"You're not going to tell your group about my son or his friend." _Or else_ , went unsaid.

"Of course not! I promise!"

"Then welcome to Jasper. And you must be the new Natural Ability User Jack has been asking questions for?"

"Uh, yes ma'am."

She nodded, "Alright then, will you two be staying for dinner?"

"No, my host family expects me back soon. They want to make sure I'm settling in, or something."

"My mom told me to be back for dinner too."

"Okay," with that she walked past them towards her room.

Once she was sure Jack's mom was gone, Miko slumped in her seat. "Your mom is scary."

"Yeah, sorry about that. In her defense, she's been really stressed out ever since I turned out to be a Natural Ability User. She doesn't want me caught up in all that, and the more Ability Users in town, the more likely someone is to take notice."

"I guess I get that."

"But, yeah, she's really strong. She can clear out the strongest of the training IDs I can create all by herself."

"Training IDs?"

"Oh, my powers call Illusion Barriers 'Instant Dungeons'—IDs for short. I call the ones with monsters training IDs."

"Jack, you have got to let me come with you sometimes. I'll go crazy if I can't cut loose."

"Okay, Raf, you want to come too? Bashing zombies is amazingly cathartic."

"It sounds fun, but my abilities aren't really made for attacking."

"I might have a way around that. Let's do it Saturday night, I should have everything ready by then."

* * *

"Jack, why is your mom here?"

"She does live here, you know." At Miko's glare, Jack continued, "She wanted to come along at least the first few times to make sure that we'll be okay on our own. Don't worry, she promised not to step in unless we need it."

"We won't need it."

"Maybe you and I won't, but Raf might. It's not like she's being unreasonable about this. She's just being a responsible adult."

"Ugh, those are the worst."

"Well—oh, Raf's here."

Moments later, the doorbell rang, and Jack crossed the room to let Raf in.

"Hey, Raf, just drop your stuff anywhere. Alright, first things first. **Create Party**. **Name: Z**. **Invite: Miko, Raf, Mom**."

"You weren't kidding about video game powers."

"Nope, here, Raf, learn these."

Raf took the two books Jack handed him and glanced at the titles, "Mana Arrow and Mana Shield?"

"Basic stuff to give you an offense and defense. You can use more arrows at once as you improve with the skill, and if a zombie gets too close, Mana Shield should last until you run out of MP."

While Raf dealt with the sudden influx of information in his head, Miko sidled up to Jack. "You're just giving him those?"

"Why not? The arrow spell is relatively cheap, and the shield isn't _that_ expensive."

"Relatively cheap in the Abyss Auction is still really expensive in the real world. Did you get him that necklace too?"

"Yes, don't mention it to him."

"Whatever, are we going now, or what?"

"Sure, just let me buff everyone first."

"Ooh, what type of buffs?"

"I only have regeneration and strength and defense boosts."

"Awesome."

"Hey, stay in the same area as us, so when the boss shows up—"

"'Boss?' Your dungeons come with Boss Monsters?"

"Yes, you have to kill hundreds of monsters to get them to show up, though."

"This is going to be so cool."

* * *

They stepped into the backyard, and Jack opened an Illusion Barrier. Miko immediately cleared the area around them with glowing strikes.

"Cool, what style is that?"

"Clan secret. I actually prefer wrestling, but getting up close and personal with a flesh-eater seems like a bad idea."

"Hey, I leveled up!"

"What? We can level up? Wait, how did _Raf_ level up?"

"Party system, he gets experience from the group's kills. He's getting the lion's share, actually, since there's a huge difference in levels. Raf, say 'status.'"

" **Status** , oh! I get stat points too? What should I use them for?"

"I'd boost your intelligence or wisdom, since you'll be using magic a lot and that would synergize well with your own ability."

"Well, I'm going to go clear out the area. I wanna see that Boss."

"Okay, see ya."

For the next few hours, Miko roamed around the block, Jack harried and bound zombies for Raf to use as target practice, and June drifted back and forth between the two boys and Miko. Finally, a low growling filled the neighborhood.

"Finally, let's go, Raf!"

Jack ran down the street to where the Legion Zombie was forming in a cul-de-sac, Raf on his heels. Miko cut through someone's yard a moment later.

"Hey, Miko! Think you can distract it for a few seconds? Take out its ankles and knees?"

"No problem!"

" **Spiral** **Shot**."

He let the technique charge for ten seconds and let it fly at the boss's head. Within moments, the zombie was dissolving into smoke.

Miko gaped at the objects on the ground, "Jack… your powers let you plunder Illusion Barriers?"

"Plunder?"

"This stuff, it's real? And you can take it out of the Barrier, and it'll still exist?"

"Yes?"

"You are so OP."

"I guess." He stooped to count the money, absently shoving the potions and Medium Soul Stone into his inventory. "Oh, it dropped eight hundred this time."

After divvying up the money, they returned to Jack's yard and exited the Illusion Barrier.

* * *

Four months and one close encounter of the third kind later, the three of them were sitting in an empty Illusion Barrier in Jack's house.

"You're sure that they're for real?"

"Yes, I checked all of them. Their stories add up."

"The programming language they use is like nothing I've ever seen before. It took me a while to figure it out."

"So they're definitely not part of the Abyss," Miko concluded.

Jack nodded, "We'll need to be even more careful if we want to keep them out of it."

"We can't just tell them?" Raf seemed upset.

"No way," Jack replied instantly, "I have no idea how resilient they are to magic, and I do not want them to find out the hard way. Also, mysterious force that kills everyone who breaks the Statute of Secrecy, remember?"

"I'm with Jack on this one, because it's not just the Autobots we have to worry about. If the Decepticons find out about the Abyss, they could hire people or buy items that could help them win the war."

"Wouldn't turning the tide of an alien war count as blatantly affecting the real world?"

"There are ways around that. None of us are strong enough to pull any of them off, though."

Jack slumped back on the couch, "Ugh."

"What?"

"I'm going to have to tell my mom about all this."

"Really ? You are such a mama's boy!"

"No, I mean. How am I supposed to tell her not to talk about powers and Illusion Barriers and the Abyss in front of my motorcycle without explaining why?"

"Ah, well, good luck with that."

* * *

 **Notes** : One idea for a running gag in RPO that I didn't manage to fit in was for Jack to be constantly be wondering if Raf is a Natural Ability User or just a genius. So I knew what his power would be right away. For those readers familiar with The Gamer, please ignore the existence of the Dan Ui clan. They'd make Miko's backstory way too dark.


End file.
